Nam's random recipes of foodage

I eat a lot of random food so here goes.

My family on my mother’s side is from Lebanon so we get a lot of great passed-down Lebanese ethnic foods. Not everyone likes this sort of thing and I’ve heard it is an acquired taste so if you’ve never tried it, prepare at your own risk! I love the stuff but I was raised on it.

Lebanese Foods:

Rolled Grapeleaves
We call these Yubadas (Yuh-buh-Duhs), I dunno how to spell it as I’ve only ever heard the word spoken.

– bunch of grapelaves. We pick them off of the wild grapes in the summer and freeze them for later use; hundreds of them. I can’t tell you how many as they can be different sizes. They should be tender- not thick and fuzzy like a domestic grape.
– 1 lb of ground meat. Lamb is traditional but we use ground hamburger. I’ve also used turkey but beware that turkey makes them end up dry due to low fat content.
– 1 cup rice
– 1 tsp Allspice
– 1/4 cup lemon juice
– Pinch of Salt and Pepper

Get a pot ready by placing an old saucer just smaller than the diameter of the pot inside of it at the bottom. You will place the grape leaves on this to prevent them from burning at the bottom of the pot. Don’t use your favorite saucer as we’re going to be cooking it!

Combine ground meat with rice, allspice, salt and pepper. Mix well (hands work best for this). Place a grape leaf top-down on a clean surface and take a small amount of the meat mixture and place it in the center of the grape leaf. Pretend you’re rolling a cigar; tuck the sides in first, then roll it up snug. Like a tiny burrito! Don’t pack it so full that meat spills out- remember the rice will expand as we cook it. Place it in the pot, on top of the saucer. Repeat this step about a million times with all the grape leaves until meat is gone or you get bored.

I find they cook the best if you align the first row all one way, then the second row at a 90° angle, and so on. Like stacking a pallet…

After you roll all the grape leaves, take a second saucer and place it on top of the grape leaves, so that it is inverted. You want it to hold them down as they cook so they don’t explode everywhere.

Fill the pot to the inverted saucer with water and bring it to a boil.

After it boils, reduce the heat to a simmer and cover. Let it simmer for 30 minutes.

After 30 Minutes, add 1/4 cup of lemon juice, cover, and simmer 10 more minutes.

Ping! They are done. They look kinda gross… like boiled cigars. Be aware of this if you have picky kids. Take note that if you drain them they will ‘dry’ quickly so either eat ’em up or put them in the fridge. If you want them to stay moist drain about 1/2 the water and eat them, but immediately store the rest in the fridge or they can get soggy.

I always add a little more lemon juice to them before I eat them, but that’s personal preference. They are also good combined with other Lebanese food, or dipped in sour cream, or rolled in Syrian bread (Lavash works too) with Hummus. These are even good cold!

Tabouli
We called this “Sasouff” (again, dunno how it’s actually spelled). This is a great, light, fresh food, especially in the summertime.

Sasouff

– 1/2 – 3/4 Cup Bulgar (Medium is best, but if you can’t find it, coarse or fine work okay too)
– 1/2 cup veggie oil
– 4 tbs lemon juice
– 1 tsp salt
– 1/4 tsp pepper
– 3 tsp dried mint (crushed)
– Parsley (bunch, chopped)
– 1-2 cucumbers, chopped
– 1-2 tomatoes, chopped
– Small can chick peas
– 4 green onions, chopped (optional, I don’t like onions so I leave this out)

I use a large tupperware bowl with a lid to make this.

Rinse bulgar in cold water & drain until all the weird dust is gone, stir well. Add oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Add mint and parsley. A note about the parsley- some people like a ton of parsley so that it looks like a salad, and some like just enough so that it seasons it. I don’t think it’s too good with a ton of parsley… it overpowers all the other stuff! I add enough so that I can see it in the mix, but no one would call it rabbit food. It takes some practice. Refrigerate for 3-5 hours to soak. After this, stir it well. Add cucumbers, tomatoes, chick peas, and green onions. Chill and serve.

IT might seem a bit dry at first, but the juices from the cucumbers and tomatoes, etc, will absorb into the bulgar, giving it a great flavor after a few hours in the fridge. I am a lemon juice nut so I really like to add some more lemon juice to taste after all is said and done. For added kick, try adding some crumbled Feta cheese!

This is even good as a sandwich or rolled in Syrian bread with Hummus, or with the rolled grape leaves!

Other stuff

Chicken Souvlaki Sandwiches
Okay so this is something I made up after I had one at a restaurant and I felt I needed to make at home.

– Boneless chicken breasts (de-bone ’em or buy them this way)
– Your favorite greek marinade (when I’m in a rush I use greek or italian salad dressing! Works great)
– Large flat pita bread (in a pinch, heavy tortillas works)
– Crumbled feta cheese
– Large cucumber
– Sour cream (substitute unflavored yogurt for healthy alternative)
– romaine lettuce
– 2-3 tsp dried mint (crushed)
– Garlic salt (or normal salt) and pepper to taste

Again, I made this one up on the fly after having one at a restaurant, so I don’t really measure anything.
Cut the chicken up into strips. Too thin = will curl and dry up during cooking and too thick = harder to eat in a sandwich format. Place them in a bowl with your marinade (again I use greek or itallian salad dressings and they work well in a pinch, or sometimes I make my own). Make sure they are coated well so they soak it up. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. 3-5 would be better if you can.

In the interim, over a bowl use a hand-held shredder to shred your cucumber. Use the medium sized grate- you want it to be shredded, not liquefied. It’ll still give off a lot of juice, so gently squeeze the extra water from the now-shredded cucumber. It’s important to get out as much water as possible or you’ll have a runny mess. Mix in your sour cream (or yogurt, I like sour cream a lot better 😉 ) until you have a ‘spreadable’ mix, but not so that the sour cream overpowers the cucumber. This is one of those ‘best judgment’ things. Add in your mint, garlic salt, and pepper to taste. You want just enough to add some flavor. Cover and refrigerate.

I either cook my chicken in a pan on medium heat with a touch of oil, or on the grill. It depends on if it’s winter or not! Cook until the juices run clear, just as you would for any other chicken dish.

In the pita, place several chicken strips (I add a dash of salad dressing if the chicken is dry), some romaine lettuce, and top with the cucumber mix and feta. Wrap the pita bread like a burrito. A tip- to keep it closed when serving several people, I wrap half the pita in aluminum foil to hold it closed and give the diner something to hold onto. They can be messy!

Also, if you are serving it to folks and they don’t know if they’d like it or not, offer the cucumber mix on the side with a knife, so they can apply as much or little to the sandwich as they’d like. Personally I like a ton of it… my husband only likes a tiny bit.

[/][/][/]

What is bulgar?

It’s basically cracked wheat. 🙂